Training

Stress Injury Continuum

Wednesday was a pretty easy day. Every year, each Sailor is supposed to complete some online training modules called General Military Training (GMT). They are usually the same topics: Hazing, fraternization, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide prevention, Code of Conduct, financial management and responsibility, etc. That's all we did today. Not a big deal. It's all important stuff, so I didn't mind being there. And even if I minded, that doesn't matter. One of the topics covered was stress management. Psych has always been something I've been interested in, so while everyone else was dozing off, I was loving it. I think that if I want, I would easily be able to get a job in mental health in the hospital. It's definitely something I'm considering. My sponsor told me that it probably wouldn't be hard to get a job in the nursery though. I guess that's a perk to working in the military. Everyone is so high speed, low drag that they love doing stuff like the ER and ICU and surgery. I'll pass. I just want to hold babies and talk to psych patients.

Pedestrian usage mode

Traffic here is terrible. To get from Portsmouth to Virginia Beach, you have to pass through a tunnel and over a drawbridge. I have yet to get stuck because the drawbridge was up. I'm sure my day will come though. Once past the tunnel, the traffic isn't too terrible. It's getting into the tunnel that is the problem because cars from all directions have to merge into just two lanes. In fact, the traffic was moving so slow that my GPS asked me if I wanted to switch to pedestrian mode. Really?? Pedestrian mode?? It's been a long time since I've had to deal with true traffic. Traffic in NOLA can get pretty bad. But after living in Nac for the past three years, there hasn't been any traffic to worry about.

Sign in Studio Bamboo

I've really been enjoying the classes at Studio Bamboo Institute of Yoga. I've had three different instructors in three different classes. This studio offers an Ashtanga classes and hot yoga. There is a workshop in July that I'm hoping to attend by Matthew Sanford. I've heard a lot of good things about him, so I plan on spending the whole weekend learning from him. I'm pretty excited about it.

Our instructor read a quote from a book today. I'm not sure who said it and I don't know the exact wording, but it went something like this: "Be happy with who you are, what you do, and what you have. It is always enough." I think that speaks a lot into the the idea of focusing on the present. In practice, focusing on the breath allows us to be in the present. At that particular time, the breath is just that...enough. I've been trying really hard to let go of everything else during my practice. It's not easy, but it gets easier the more I practice. I really think it's one of the most beneficial things that I do for my body and mind - even more so than healthy eating, drinking enough water, laughing, running, or annual doctor visits. One of the coolest things about it is that I don't even need to go to the studios. I choose to because I'm interested in the philosophy and background of yoga and I love the yoga communities that I've been able to meet. But I could get all the body and mind benefits in my own solitary practice. It's a great thing, this yoga stuff. :)

Five days till Christy gets here. Time needs to move faster...